Duncan nailed a difficult 16-foot jumper over Nowitzki with two
seconds left as the San Antonio Spurs edged the Dallas
Mavericks, 89-87, in a key Midwest Division clash.

Nowitzki capped Dallas' rally from a late 10-point deficit with
a long jumper that forged an 87-87 tie with seven seconds left.
San Antonio used a timeout -- and there was little question
where the ball was headed.

Danny Ferry inbounded to Duncan at the top of the key, where he
was isolated on Nowitzki. He dribbled toward the lane and
pulled up on the left side before nailing the jumper for his
only basket of the fourth quarter.

Dallas had no timeouts left and Nick Van Exel's heave from
beyond half-court hit the top of the backboard.

"Dirk and Tim put on a great show tonight for the fans," San
Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Obviously, Tim is having an
MVP season and pretty much everyone knows that we're going to
him, which makes it tougher."

Duncan finished with 33 points and 16 rebounds despite constant
double- and triple-teaming by the Mavericks. On Sunday, he
missed a potential game-winning basket against the Los Angeles
Lakers in a fourth quarter in which he made 1-of-9 shots.

San Antonio (52-24) pulled within one-half game of the
first-place Mavericks (52-23) in the Midwest Division and earned
the tie-breaker by winning the season series, 3-1. The team
that finishes second likely will wind up with the fourth seed in
the Western Conference.

"We're definitely happy to be in the position we're in, within
one-half game of them," Duncan said. "We've just got to control
our side of it and what happens over there happens."

Although Duncan was the story, the victory would not have
possible without Ferry. He nailed three 3-pointers in the
fourth quarter and finished with 11 points.

Ferry's second 3-pointer of the period opened a 78-68 lead with
5:13 remaining. Van Exel helped bring Dallas back with five
points in a 12-4 spurt, including a 3-pointer that cut the
deficit to 82-80 with 1:40 remaining.

The Mavericks got back the ball, but Van Exel had his shot
blocked by rookie Tony Parker. Duncan fed Ferry for a 3-pointer
and a seemingly safe 85-80 advantage with 45 seconds left.

"Danny is a consummate pro, one of those guys that makes the big
shot," Popovich said. "I know everyone wants to do that, but
he's been big for us all year when healthy."

But the Spurs missed 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch,
leaving the door open for Dallas. Duncan made 1-of-2 for an
87-85 lead with 13 seconds to go before Nowitzki tied it.

Antonio Daniels scored 13 points and David Robinson chipped in
nine and 13. Duncan had 22 points and 10 rebounds by halftime
for his league-leading 62nd double-double.

Van Exel came off the bench and scored 19 of his 27 points in
the second half while Nowitzki had 26 points and 21 rebounds.
But the Mavs had a three-game winning streak stopped.

"Nick Van Exel stepping up like that and having an All-Star
performance is really encouraging heading into the playoffs,"
Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "There is lots of good to take
out of this one."

Led by Duncan, San Antonio had a huge advantage at the
free-throw line, although it converted just 27-of-45 attempts.
Dallas made 12-of-19 foul shots.

"This is the second time we play them and they go to the line
twice as many times as us, it's ridiculous," Van Exel said. "We
shoot too many jump shots."

The Mavs had a tough day from beyond the arc, making just
5-of-22 shots, with Michael Finley going 1-of-7. Starting point
guard Steve Nash did not score in 18 minutes in the first half
and sat out the second with the flu.

Finley scored 18 points but made just 8-of-25 shots.

The game was the fourth close contest between the intrastate
rivals and the first to be won by the home team. The previous
three meetings had been decided by a total of eight points.